To fellow Cumberland alums:
A thank you, to all who came from near and far to attend the Cumberland grade school reunion this past weekend. The turnout for the reunion was absolutely wonderful. Although it has been 40 years since we graduated and it has been 50 years since we first began Kindergarten, it seemed like it was just yesterday that we, attended classes, played on the playground and ran on the sports field at Cumberland Grade School.
Many memories came to mind as we strolled the halls, visited the library, the choir room, the gym and the classrooms. Stanzas of Flanders Fields came to mind as did characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Although some of the classrooms have been partitioned into new configurations, memories of how it was back in the 1960’s still remain.
From the moment the reunion began on Friday evening there was an electricity in the air that you could feel. The chatter between alums that began at the Friday evening fish fry lasted non-stop until the last alums finally made their way grudgingly to their cars after the brunch on Sunday morning.
Many thanks to all. Although the reunion weekend has ended, the beat goes on.
Ever since the end of the WFBHS reunion last year, mini-reunions have been held in the form of Saturday lunch get-togethers or a Friday evening fish fry at Jack Pandl’s WFB Inn every several months or so. Up till now, the dates of the get-togethers have been communicated via e-mail to fellow alums in the area. However, in the future, the dates and times may be posted on the WFBHS website. Any and all 1973 WFB High School alums and friends are welcome to attend. The invitation also includes any Cumberland classmates and friends who attended Cumberland grade school with us. So far, we have had great food, great conversation and great fun.
As many out-of- town alums still have parents and friends living in this area and still visit WFB from time to time, some of you may want to attend one of the lunch or fish fry get-togethers to see old friends. Perhaps one of your upcoming visits “back home” could coincide with one of the lunch / fish fry get-together weekends. As I mentioned above, I am looking into having dates and times posted on the WFBHS website and will also send around a group / loop e-mail from the list of alums on John P.'s spreadsheet. I will keep you posted.
In closing, it looks like with the large number of students that Cumberland grade school currently has and with school expansion plans being discussed, our memorable Cumberland grade school will be here for decades to come.
As the years continue on for us, however, wouldn’t it be great if there was a place, when we begin to slow down a bit, that would be called: The Cumberland Senior Apartments and Retirement Community.
I bet you it would be a real fun place.
-Bruce Cisler
So much fun to see all of you. I really enjoyed the school tour, bus ride (and of course the stop at DQ!) and just chatting with so many of you. Many thanks to the reunion committee but also to those who stopped by one or two or more times from near and far. Have a great fall.
-Linda Ericson Hill
Just a quick note to say ,great job done by the committee, I had the time of my life, I feel lucky to have grown up with super nice people and we all still care,
LETS DO IT AGAIN SOON, LOVE YOU ALL,
-Pat Baker
The last two weeks seem like a blur, London, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo and two wonderful days in Whitefish Bay. These two days in WFB with all of you was simply the best!
We all owe a large debt of gratitude to the people that conceived, planned and did the leg work to make this reunion happen. I want to add my thanks for a job well done!
One final thought - We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.
Instead of saying Goodbye, the Germans have an expression that says it better.
Auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye, until we see each other again)
-Bob Swaney
Hey y'all,
Annie just sent me the photo of the handsome group on the Cumberland steps! That is a testimony of our class' signature.....that base of friendships is what has given us the strength and confidence and desire to be successful in our family lives, our new friendships and our careers! I sure missed being there and know that the tremendous effort and planning (which I know each of that committee enjoyed creating) was truly appreciated by everyone! My love to all ..... and please pass on any photos that you risk sharing!
-Barb (Barbara Kunikoff Fisher)
Enough thanks cannot be said! So here is another one,Thank-you!!
Hope we don't have to wait until the 50th to see you all again!
-Nancy Eastham
What a wonderful time, because of the hard work done by our reunion committee. The warmth and friendly smiles sure made the weekend a memorable experience, that I will cherish. I cannot wait to connect with old friends by either e-mail or facebook,and also for the 50th! Stay healthy and safe very dear friends it was so great to see all you.
Thanks so much to the reunion committee your efforts were commendable, it made a fabulous time for all of us!
-Cynthia Neff Drewek
It was such a wonderful experience to get reacquainted with all of you again. Now I know why I have held such a nostalgic and idealistic view of my years at Cumberland for all of these years. How many grade schools have reunions? That just about says it all. You guys are the best! Thanks for bringing me back into the fold….
-Ed Emma
Thanks again to the reunion committee for all of the time and energy you put into this event!! The reunion was wonderful...it was great to see everyone and get updated on their lives since grade school.
-Deborah Hackbarth Fiedler
What a special class we were. To have had not 1 but 2 grade school reunions
is a testimony to the friendships made, some starting 50 years ago in
kindergarten. Good time had by all.
-John Pereles
Everyone! Thanks to everyone that made this weekend happen. So many folks
so many miles. Wonderful to see all! What a gas! Be safe and looking forward
to our next get together!
-Pete Quilling
Dear Cumberland Classmates,
This reunion jolted my self-confidence in my memory skills (I was amazed at what people remembered!) but I want you all to know how meaningful and special it was for me to see you!! Brenda and I both left feeling blessed by our experiences with you (past and present) and living in beautiful WFB (the Fall colors and drive along Lake Shore Drive were a treat!) Thanks so very much to the committee for making this reunion happen and for being so well organized!! Your attention to detail was noticed and appreciated!
It was so fun to reminisce about the past, see memorabilia brought by classmates (Brenda even brought her Cumberland and WFB library cards, her Cumberland library pin and the license from our tandem bike---which we STILL have and use at our parent's lake home in northern Minnesota!!!), share stories of family, work, retirement, travel, snow skiing, life trauma from being caught in snow storms and hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike and I even did some career counseling!! Keith Tucker's son is interested in a career as a Physician Assistant and I was excited to affirm my happiness to him in my pursuing becoming a PA rather than MD (I graduated from the U of MN with B. A./pre-med and attended the Physician Assistant Program in Houston at Baylor College of Medicine- B. S., PA-C 1982.)
I just wish I had more visiting time with everyone (didn't get to share medical stories with Mike Colla....) Thanks to Steven Robbins who has volunteered to coordinate a web site where we all can down load our pictures from the reunion. Wouldn't it be fun to also add comments about our days at Cumberland along with the pictures? Everyone had such fun stories and it would be great to share them with others (Pat Baker, what was the story about you and the boys planning to rescue Sally Fetherston from a date?!!)
This reunion triggered some great memories and I hope that everyone will take time to write them down before they are forgotten (Yes, we really are aging....!)
To those who didn't make it, WE MISSED YOU! I hope you will also add stories to Steve's web site.
I wish you all the best of health and happiness! Keep in touch and I'd love to see you if you are ever in Houston!
- Bev Ness Coit
Dear Cumberland Classmates,
If you came, you made this reunion beat out the WFBHS reunion of last year at so many levels. If you didn't, we REALLY missed you-we had so much fun seeing each other and catching up - you gotta try to make the next one!
I asked the teachers and our classmates in attendance... no one can quite put their finger about the whys... but this class of 1969 Cumberland School is a true treasure. A rarity, and getting better with time. Bob Swaney asked me as I staggered to my car when the next one was, and although exhausted, I was smiling, I was thinking about it rather than ducking the question!
How fun WAS that!? Wow. Thanks Bob Swaney (MN) for rearranging your return trip from England to be here. Thanks Annie Burbach Hemphill for leaving a healing hubby and active young son to be here. Thanks to Susi Levings Laske who left her HS Homecoming to join us for the last few hours last night and today. For Bake to fly up from New Orleans, Jim Bamberger who come from WA, Jackie Glassman from SFO (without going to Lambeau), Laura Raffe Salituro from CT, Jim Mandel from OH, Linda Ericson Hill from KS, Steve Robbins from AZ/CA, Tobey and Patti Goesch from IN, Steve Goodman and Rene (Senninger) and husband Bruce Stein from MD, Paul Speerschneider from Vegas via Potawatomi, Keith Hodgins and Brenda Ness from Jacksonville, Beverly Ness Coit and Andrea Miller Robinson from TX, Mike Hoffman, Mike Colla, and Jonathan Strouse from IL, Al Mishlove from from FL, Nancy Eastham and (Bonnie Willert-who was sick and didn't make it) from MN.
The local-ish gang of Duke John Pereles, Pete Quills, Cis Bruce Cisler, Jack Ehlenbach, Doug Ering, Eddie Emma (great to see you again!), Greg and Mel Boulanger, Steve Gardiner, Keith Tucker and family, Don De Hildebrand, Debbie Hackbarth Fiedler, Kathy Sloane Zembrosky, Sally Gerlinger Fetherston, Cynthia Neff Drewek, Jon and Janelle (Paeschke) Wilcox, Rich Ryerson, Carol Olson, Susie Maggnussen (Shepherd) Schultz we are happy to reconnect, Chris Holmes, myself and an "always memorable" guest appearance from Val Hagen and friend.
Stay tuned for website info on how to post photos from a memorable Class of 1969 Cumberland School Reunion. It was - the best!
We also had great fun with the teachers that were present, and although I couldn't get Kubiak to change my grades in 5th grade, word has it the Keith Hodgins was more successful. Mrs. Debbink, Miss Jashaway, Bill John, Mr. and Mrs. Klawitter, Tom Kubiak, Alta McCarthy, Jean Parteka and Rick O'Connor. They too remembered back to our K-8 years at Cumberland as a very special time and a very special class and were thrilled to be there with us.
Special thanks to Rene Senninger for working so hard to find people, sending out the invites and doing the website; Bruce Cisler for being the DJ and decorating king, negotiating and researching venues and menus; and John Pereles for scouting venues, endless logistics, coordination with the school and the bus; accounting and planning; Steve Robbins for those really fine tees; Doug Ering for the presentation... Jackie, Don, Pete, Jim and I played lesser roles, mostly from ringside email seats but all worked hard to make this happen. Thanks for spreading the word. Thanks for coming!
Cumberland Class of 1969 - you are the best!
-Ellie Mixter Keller
I'd like to take a moment to me thank the committee that organized this great weekend. Rene, Ellie, John, Bruce, Steve, Pete (I'm sure I'm missing someone) et al., thanks so much for pulling this together. What a great event.
To everyone else, thanks for coming. It was truly wonderful to see so many of you with whom I have not had any contact for decades. What a great ride through memory lane.
May you all stay healthy, happy and enjoy the next stages in your respective journeys.
-Jim Bamberger
As I walked into Brew City Saturday night I wondered if I would recognize anyone other than the few I would run into at Sendik's or somewhere in the North Shore---but the others---I was not sure. But there they were, the faces I remember, beneath a new few lines were the sweet smiles that lit up a school for ten years. There was no pretense, no lies, we had known each other at our best and at our worst and we were together to remember all of those times.
And so I want to say thank you for this night.
Thank you that worked endlessly to get the word out about this reunion.
Thank you that organized all these events---I wish I had been able to attend them all.
Thank you who told little white lies " ...you look wonderful..." 
Thank you for reminding me of a magical time when my biggest worry was if ice skating at Cahill , I would skate tirelessly around and around to the piped in music holding hands with "him". Or would "he"ask me to slow dance at yet another Bar or Bat Mitzvah party.
Thank you (Rene) for being relentless in your pursuit to get me to attend.
And thank all of you for the lovely memories that have reinforced my belief that my childhood was special because you were a part of it.
So until the next time be well and happy,
-Susi Levings Laske
What a great time. Thanks to adding more memories to the best class ever! Can't wait for the 50th.
-Don Hildebrand
To the reunion committee, thank you for all your dedicated work! The results say it all, Bravo - well done!
And to the attendees, I am truly thankful and blessed for having shared this weekend in Milwaukee with you and your spouses. Honestly, I smile every time I think of each of you and what fun we had. Thanks for renewing the memories.
Fondly and gratefully yours,
-Brenda Ness
